The Original Goro

Those readers who play video games probably remember the character Goro from Mortal Kombat. Here is the original Goro, a character created in a kabuki play around 1700. If you've read the first book in our Samurai Detective series, you know that Seikei had to join a kabuki acting troupe to catch the thief. Kabuki was very popular in Japan, and the actor Ichikawa Danjuro played Goro, who was a man with unlimited physical powers. He actually helped the hero of the play overcome his enemies. This print, by the artist Torii Kiyomasu, was made to sell to fans of Danjuro, who wanted to see him in his Goro role.